As aged people are increasing in number in the population recently, there is a growing interest in their medical care. The swallowing function in the aged people is generally lower than that of younger healthier people, and it is not easy for them to swallow solid preparations such as tablets and capsules. Thus, it has been usually difficult to administer medicines, which are similar to those to be given to people in the prime of life, to the aged people. In the medical treatment of the aged people, the patients often have two or more diseases to be treated and usually two or more kinds of medicines including the solid preparations are prescribed for them. Thus, the swallowing of the medicines having different shapes often caused much labor and pain for them. It was proposed under these circumstances to administer a liquid preparation such as a syrup instead of the solid capsules in the pharmacotherapy of the aged people. However, the administration must be carefully carried out, since the reflective function in the bifurcation of trachea of the aged people is generally weak, and the liquid might be partially sucked in the trachea at the time of the swallowing. Particularly when an aged patient is nursed at home, serious problems such as dyspnea due to improper suction are often caused.
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a composition from which a preparation which can be easily swallowed by aged people can be prepared at the time of use.
In particular, the object of the present invention is to provide a dry gel composition containing a medicine which can be orally administered and capable of rapidly forming an aqueous gel composition upon mixing with a predetermined quantity of water without heating at the time of use.